Chapter XII

As the first job finished so early, they had a lot of time to kill. So before heading towards the tavern, they went sightseeing in Mondelay. Michael couldn't even imagine it was possible for the city to rebuild this quickly. Same places which were burned a few weeks earlier now looked attractive, with theaters, temples, and houses. The mysterious attacks had strengthened the citizens' religious beliefs and those people, who did not even have proper houses, were building the temples to Rahail now. Newly built houses belonged to those nobles who had escaped from other cities and had come to Mondelay.

"Come, I want to show you something," the characteristic smile appeared on Uriel's face and he could hear adventure in his voice. Intrigued, Michael agreed with no hesitation. Uriel took him to the newly built Rahail temple, which was encircled by the fence. Near the fence, there was a three-story house. Uriel suggested climbing over the wall of that house, Michael had no other way than to agree so that he would not be a coward, however, when he passed by the second floor and looked down, out of fear, he closed his eyes and leaned closer to the corner of the building. Seeing Michael's face, Blondy, who had almost finished climbing, laughed out loud.

"Come up, don't worry!" he said. The wall was easy to climb over as the bricks were broken here and there, you could easily hold on to them with your feet and hands, but Michael was terrified of heights, and if not Uriel's ironic words, he would have decided not to move at all. But Blondy's mocking remarks made him overcome his fears, and he finally climbed up the wall. Uriel praised him once again as he was walking on the edge of the roof, dexterously and calm. Michael went as far as possible from the edge, was scared to look down.

"Come here," asked Uriel and Michael strode towards him as bravely as he could. Blond was standing at the edge of the roof, which was quite dangerous. Michael's knees were shivering, but he ignored that.

Blondy patted him on the back to encourage him, but he hit him so hard that the boy almost fell from the roof. He got so scared; he fell down on his knees and shivering violently, did not dare to stand up on his own.

"Get rid of the fear and let the wind take it away" whispered Uriel, "take a deep breath and look up in the space, this will make it easier for you to get rid of negative emotions". Michael knew he had no other choice up there, so tried to follow these instructions. He glanced at the domes glittering under the cold sun and slowed down his breathing. He could not really recall when he felt emptiness fill him up and how long it took him to feel completely devoid of any feeling, but he was sure of his state now. Looking at Uriel, he noticed his astonished look.

"You have made it!" Uriel shouted happily, then he turned around and walked toward the further edge of the roof;

Michael followed him swiftly as if he was walking on the ground. They soon stopped simultaneously. Uriel pointed at the plane tree standing in the temple yard.

"I will jump and follow me with no hesitation!" he said, then he stepped back so that he could gather some speed for jumping off the roof towards the plane tree in the yard. Michael, now empty from every emotion, jumped off the roof; however, he lost his confidence in the air and started screaming when he felt he was falling down. Finally, he grabbed the branches of the tree. He looked down and saw that he was hanging from the branch about six or seven meters up from the ground. He heard Blondy shout, 'Don't worry, I will lift you up!'.

Michael looked up and saw Uriel jump towards him, still clinging to the branch; then he grabbed him with his empty hand and lifted him up.

When Michael came round, he was already hugging the tree. He was now aware of the meaning of the phrase- blood curdled in his veins.

"Why did you shout that much, it gathered the entire city under the tree," said Blond playfully, with a hint of a rebuke.

"I jumped from the three-story building and you are asking me why I was shouting?" answered Michael angrily.

"I am not in a mood of fighting," gave in Uriel and started climbing up the tree.

"What are you doing?" Michael was dumbfounded.

"I think you know it," the answer was brief. People had gathered at the tree and were looking for the person who had screamed that loud. Michael was invisible in the branches of the tree and trying to follow Uriel as close as he could. What he could do is to climb and not look down at the crowd below. They had been climbing for a while when Michael realized how tall the tree was, so he looked down anyway. He hugged the tree again, horrified, and could not open his eyes for some time. To overcome his fear, he used the trick taught by Blondy. He started breathing deeply, opened his eyes slowly, and looked into the distance. This helped him a bit, and he was strong enough to continue crawling up the tree. He did not know why Blondy was climbing up the tree, but there was no other way, so he still followed him. The wind became stronger, and the tree started swaying even stronger. His heart skipped a beat with the first blow and he clung to the tree.

"A little longer and we are there," Uriel encouraged Michael, who continued crawling up the tree. He soon ended up next to Blondy. They had almost got to the top of the tree, which was at least thirty meters tall.

"Why are we doing this?" he mumbled, but Uriel made him even more scared when he pointed at the dome of the temple.

"Not here, but there."

"You crazy or what? How are we going to get there?" asked exhausted Michael. Blondy said nothing. He only stared at the temple. The wind was making the tree sway from side to side and when the tree bent opposite the dome, Uriel ran on the branch and jumped. When the tree swayed back, it was quite close to the walls of the temple. Michael screamed in fear, but Blond did not even hear him. He hung on the battlement of the wall and climbed up the wall like a cat. When he could stand up, he turned round to Michael.

His eyes said so much, words were no longer necessary. Michael took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again, looked Uriel into his eyes again, and ran towards him...

Michael and Blond were sitting on the tallest dome of the temple, admiring the city. Mondelay was offering a breathtaking view, people buzzing in the streets, sandy beaches and restless waves, sparkling domes and a white wall in the background, endlessness lost in the sea, the city divided by the roaring river and the spring forest encircling it. The laundry blowing in the wind and the swept dust; the fire blazing in the towers and the pale sun, smoke going up in the sky like braided hair and loose hair, patched land and colorless, pale sky, beggars in the streets and the rich staring from the balconies, guardsmen without horses and heroes carved on the temple walls...

The view was so breathtaking and picturesque that they stared quiescently at it for so long that if anybody watched them, they would think somebody had put the stone figures near the dome. Being so high in the sky made the boys feel extremely free. This feeling was so overwhelming that Michael forgot everything and enjoyed every second of being there. The evening descended over them so quickly that neither of the boys remembered they had planned to go to the tavern to celebrate Michael's first successful working day, but then again even if they remembered, they would still prefer to sit and contemplate on the roof of the temple.

"We should be back here sometime," Michael told Uriel when the sun hiding behind the clouds disappeared into the sea and all went dark around. Uriel nodded slightly and without looking at Michael, he got up.

"My brother was the first person ever to take me to the rooftop of the Cairthebys's castle when he got back from being a hostage to the capital of Al-Moravid and showed me the grandness of the city. I remember how the glowing, red sun kept disappearing somewhere on the horizon. I remember how excited I was when observing the falconers, the flight of the escaped falcons' sky, and my urgent desire to fly with them. How badly I wanted to run and fly away wherever I wanted to. I remember the first time I climbed up the roof, I was shaking with fear like a leaf; since then, however, an evening would not fly without me creeping up there via the route my brother had shown me and how excited I was when watching the sunset from the highest domes of the city. I remember how much I wanted to take somebody with me and show them the attractions of the heights, but I was scared to give away my secret, so I never did. But later, I considered my brother's sudden disappearance as a betrayal on his part and tried to avoid everything that reminded me of him.

Soon after I heard about my father's death, I started visiting the roof again and at the highest point of the dome, at the very place I loved sitting, I found a letter from my brother, already faint and faded. There were only several words written, "If you want to fly, chase your dreams, Uriel." I didn't know back then what it meant, but after meeting you and Lucious, now I get what Nehirah was trying to tell me.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Let's fly together to our dreams, swim across the oceans and seas in search of them, walk through the icy mountains and sandy beaches, let's look for the wonders of the world and experience the adventures that will reveal the essence of freedom in each and every second; let's never wish to look back till it is time to take the last breath, but when we die one day, may our fulfilled dreams follow us like the proud eagles soaring up in the sky...

While listening to Uriel's words, Michael felt a strange feeling surmounting and filling his whole body. It was as if Michael's dreams were now being sounded by Uriel and when he finished, Michael started telling his stories about the ships, harbor, shelter, being whipped, meeting Lucius, escape, fear, fire and gradually realized that his stories were a string of emotions that had no connection with each other but still made full sense to Blond.

"My brother taught me how to overcome the fear. There are two ways of that, he told me - anger and emptiness. Emptiness is much more difficult to master and is used much less. But both of them have advantages and disadvantages... If you want to learn how to fence, you need to master both."

The boys talked a lot, and it was obvious they understood each other very well. They did not notice how the evening set in and when they looked around; it was already getting dark. They did not find it difficult to climb down the tree. Soon they were walking on the colorful streets of the city, still chatting heartily.

"There are several criminal groups in the city. All of them have their territories and firm control over them. They rip a lot of money from the traders for their safety, but not only them but from the pickpockets too. Every group wants to extend their territories, because the larger their space, the more money they get, that's why they constantly fight and kill one another. On the territories, it's the decision of the gangs to who steals what and when, that's why it was extremely dangerous for Uriel and Michael to be there, especially they already had a conflict of interest with one gang and the boys were in the bad book of other gangs as well.

"Should we pop into the tavern?" Blondy reminded him of the original plan. Michael just remembered that he had eaten nothing since morning, and he readily agreed to this proposition.

The tavern was in a suitable location and well-visible from a number distance, but even if not this, besides the bright lights shedding from the windows, one could hear the deafening noises. Opening the door, loud sounds greeted the boys. Music, shouting, singing, laughing, whispering, coughing and clattering of glasses were blended together... The odor was so strong that it exceeded Michael's powers to identify the "ingredients" making up the overall smell, so he did not even try it.

It was pleasantly warm in the large, bright hall. A huge fire was roaring in the fireplace, the candles hanging on the walls illuminated the hall. The thick air was disturbing but not surprising and unexpected, given the conditions. The boys found a small table in the farthest corner and ordered cheap food. Uriel went to grab some drinks while Michael was looking around. Different people filled the tavern with, starting from the guardsmen, among which you could also see the red uniform soldiers, finishing with the beggars, whose life circle comprised begging, getting drunk, and falling asleep. You could also see merchants, sailors, and people whose professions a twelve-year-old boy could not tell. One could see the elderly and the youngsters, well-dressed women and red-skinned men wearing queer clothes...

Some girls were dancing on the stage. The stage was quite far from the boy's table and they could not really enjoy the performance. The noise made it difficult to hear tunes, so Michael just sat there idly waiting for the food and drinks. Uriel soon brought drinks, as for the food either the waitress forgot all about them, or the cook had a lot to prepare.

Finally, the boys' prayers were answered, and they were provided with food. The waitress was still laying on the table when half of the food had already disappeared. The behavior of the boys surprised her, especially with that of Michael, but the latter was so focused on food that he could not care less. Uriel poked him, but Michael was so busy with his grilled salmon, he paid no attention to Blondy. Later, when there was no food left, he asked Uriel what he had said.

"Nothing, I just noted that the waitress was beautiful," answered Blondy, displaying no emotion. Intrigued, Michael searched for the waitress, but he could only see fat soldiers having fun.

"Just my luck!" grumbled Michael and looked at the plates on the table again, hoping to find some food. He was unlucky in this case too, but he was about to swear again when Uriel poked him and showed him at someone on the stage. He did not regret following Uriel's advice... A young black-haired girl was dancing on the stage. She was following the rhythm of the music and conquering the hearts of the audience at the same speed. The entire crowd had gathered close to the stage. The boys have got closer too.

"I did not know that the waitress could dance here," said Uriel. Michael was staring at the stage with his eyes wide open and was not sure why he felt so dark in his soul. Was this because of the lack of light or the raven-black hair summoning the ghosts into the tavern? The girl's black eyes were ablaze with dark fire, which attracted the viewers. She was dancing in a black dress. Everyone was silent, and the sounds of instruments seemed deafening.

Gradually the rhythm died down, which made Michael sad a little. Like everything wonderful, this beautiful dance had an end, too. When it finished, the applause shook everything around. The dark-haired girl curtseyed elegantly and quickly disappeared. Half of the audience comprised drunk guardsmen and gamblers, who were urging the girl to dance again. Sometimes they used swear words. Michael and Uriel went to pay their bill to the fat woman, who obviously was the owner of the tavern, but she had no time for them. She was busy arguing with one client about some girl who was too young while glancing at the gold coin lying in the stall.

The drunk client, who looked like a red uniform more solid, continued asserting his point and finally achieved his goal only after having added a silver coin to the gold he had already sacrificed. Michael got extremely intrigued and while Uriel was paying the bill, he followed the soldier in the red uniform to see why he had paid her so much money. He did not have to wait for that long. The girl, who looked like the one who was dancing some time ago, now was wearing the uniform of the waitress, was approaching the table with a wine bottle in her hand. Suddenly, the drunk men snatched the bottle away and grabbed her. The girl fought back with the expression of fear and anger on her face, but the soldier in the red uniform did not give up but grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

Michael felt the blood rushing to his head. He could no longer think clearly... He could hear Uriel's cries from afar while he was running over the table and the broken crockery started flying from both sides of it. He could hear the screams of the girl, asking the fat woman why she had broken the promise. Michael jumped off the table, twirled the cudgel in the air, and hit the soldier in his mouth with it so hard that the soldier's teeth dropped around in the room.

At this moment, everything erupted so quickly, and what was happening exceeded Michael's abilities. He glimpsed the guardsman running towards him, but Blondy hit him with the bottle and he fell down. The second guardsman tripped over his friend and fell. The third one would definitely reach Michael if the girl had not helped him to crouch under the table. Michael started a huge fight. Most of the customers were already quite drunk and no one really knew why they hit each other. At first, the guardsman tried to catch Michael, but later no one really remembered him and they got involved in a huge fight. Michael was worried about Uriel. The last time he saw the boy was when he saved him from the guardsman. He was not sure what happened to him after that.

It must have been so difficult for Uriel to fight alone; that was it, Michael could not take it anymore, he had to come out and help... He was about to do so, when the waitress-dancer or the dancer-waitress grabbed his arm and pushed him back under the table, telling him he could not yet leave the shelter. Michael did not really expect that; He could not utter a word, just coughed. Then muttered that he had to find Uriel and was about to leave the shelter when Uriel dragged him back. More precisely, he crashed into him and they both rolled back under the table. Uriel's coat was torn, he was holding on to the bloody cudgel; shouting, screaming, swearing, and sounds of broken dishes would not stop. The boys under the table could no longer tell the exact time they had been sitting there; they wanted to come out, couldn't stand sitting there anymore. The swearing and shouting slowly died out. The fighters didn't have any strength anymore. Uriel carefully peeped through the hole in the tablecloth and looked around the dining hall.

"There is no one nearby. At least that's how it seems from this peephole. I think it's the best time to creep out," said Blondy and crawled out so that he did not even look at the girl. Michael once again coughed and asked the raven-haired girl as politely as he could if she wanted to go with them, but he received a stern no. Feeling frustrated, he was about to leave the room when he heard the girl say thank you. This one word made him so happy that he accidentally jumped up and hit the table so hard that he almost cried. Without saying a word, Michael looked around, there were several people fighting here and there, trying to take away the sword from the guardsmen, another one was standing in the corner with a spare sword, but he was so drunk, he could not hold it properly and swayed it back and forth. Others were lying on the floor unconscious or still fighting. Women were hiding either behind the curtains or under the tables, waiting for the fight to finish.

It was obvious to the boys that they could not sneak out from the room unobserved; it was too dangerous, so they went back to the table. Michael was searching for the girl and finally saw her standing on the staircase leading to the second floor, waving to him. Michael poked Uriel and showed at the girl, then went to the stairs stealthily. Before Michael reaching the destination, Uriel rebuked him about his reckless behavior, however, Michael continued with a joyous expression on his face.

They were almost there when Michael got a strange feeling and they heard a deafening roar and shutter. They did not know why, but they turned around rather slowly.

The deafening silence consumed the hall. Everyone had turned into stone from fear, the shatters of the windows were scattered all around the floor. In the middle of the debris, a reddish man mounted on a horse was standing. Neither the horse nor the rider looked alive; what was even worse, they did not look dead either.